A remarkable performance by Barcelona's Fermin Lopez propelled Spain to a decisive 3-0 victory over Japan, securing their place in the semi-finals of the Olympic men's football tournament on Friday. This triumph followed an impressive display by Morocco, who outclassed the United States in a dominant performance.

Lopez, a celebrated member of Spain's victorious Euro 2024 squad, initiated the scoring with a powerful left-footed strike from a considerable distance in the 11th minute of the quarter-final match against Japan in Lyon.

The 21-year-old midfielder further solidified Spain's lead in the 73rd minute with another exceptional goal. He skillfully controlled a corner kick from Sergio Gomez before executing a precise volley from the edge of the penalty area, this time utilizing his right foot..

Captain Abel Ruiz wrapped up the win late after the Japanese defence failed to clear another Gomez corner.

Olympic champions in 1992 and silver medallists three years ago in Tokyo, Spain will now go to Marseille for a semi-final on Monday against Morocco, who were impressive 4-0 winners against the USA in Paris.

Morocco had the vast majority of a noisy and packed crowd at the Parc des Princes behind them and were simply too strong for their opponents.

Soufiane Rahimi opened the scoring from the penalty spot before Ilias Akhomach and captain Achraf Hakimi added further goals in the second half, with another spot-kick, by Mehdi Maouhoub, wrapping up the win.

After topping their group ahead of Argentina, Morocco are looking like a serious contender to win gold in Paris on August 9.

The sizeable Moroccan community in France has turned out in big numbers over the last week to back their team, which came to the Games after winning last year’s Under-23 Africa Cup of Nations.

France, Argentina set for showdown

They are a formidable side and the outcome never looked in doubt once Rahimi converted a penalty just before the half-hour mark after he had been fouled in the area by Nathan Harriel.

Rahimi, who plays in the United Arab Emirates and is one of Morocco’s three overage players at the Olympics, is the tournament’s top scorer with five goals in four games.

Morocco doubled their lead on 63 minutes. Abde Ezzalzouli produced a great piece of play on the left before picking out his fellow former Barcelona youngster Akhomach to finish at the near post.

Hakimi, playing on his Paris Saint-Germain home ground, ran through to make it 3-0 with 20 minutes remaining.

Substitute Maouhoub added another penalty in stoppage time after Harriel had been penalised for handball following a VAR review.

The remaining quarter-finals will transpire later on Friday, with Egypt facing Paraguay, followed by the host nation France, under the guidance of coach Thierry Henry, engaging in a match against two-time gold medalists Argentina in Bordeaux.

This encounter will mark the first meeting between the two nations since the incident in mid-July, where Argentina players were recorded engaging in the singing of racially charged chants directed towards their French counterparts during their celebration of the Copa America victory.

In response to this incident, FIFA has officially announced its intention to conduct an investigation into the aforementioned chants, which specifically targeted France's prominent striker Kylian Mbappe and encompassed both racist and homophobic slurs.

AFP